Format: 4 x 1hr Western Drama
Distribution: SBS / Sundance Now (2021)
Production Company: Goalpost Pictures
Created by: Peter Cox
Executive Produced by: Rosemary Blight, Kylie Du Fresne, Amanda Duthie, Ben Grant
Produced by: Elisa Argenzio, Liam Heyen, Yingna Lu
Directed by: Corrie Chen
Written by: Peter Cox, Yolanda Ramke, Benjamin Law, Greg Waters, Pip Karmel
Starring: Yoson An, Alyssa Sutherland, Mabel Li, Christopher James Baker, Leonie Whyman, Dan Spielman
AWARDS
Logie Awards (2022)
Nominee: Most Outstanding Miniseries or Telemovie
Nominee: Most Outstanding Supporting Actress
Australian Directors Guild Awards (2022)
Winner: Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Miniseries Episode
The Equity Ensemble Awards
Winner: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Miniseries or Telemovie
Australian Writers' Guild Awards
Winner: Television or Miniseries of 4 Hours or Less, Original or Adapted
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards
Nominee: Best Miniseries or Telefeature
Winner: Best Original Score in Television
Nominee: Best Hair and Makeup
Nominee: Best Production Design in Television
Winner: Best Costume Designe in Television
REVIEWS
Luke Buckmaster, THE GUARDIAN: "Nobody has made this country’s equivalent of There Will be Blood yet, that brilliantly American portrait of great fortune at the expense of moral bankruptcy. But New Gold Mountain and the aforementioned films (Goldstone and The Furnace) move towards using gold and other natural resources as material for national parables – springboards to discuss wealth, greed, power, politics and the apocalyptic human tendency to dig up resources from the ground. In a world of information overload, where there is tendency to assume every story worth telling has already been told, Chen’s series reminds us this is far from true: history and culture, as always, is a matter of perspective."
Keir Reeves, THE CONVERSATION: "The show also reminds us of the complex enduring relationship between China and Australia, which has often been driven by the mining industry. But, ultimately, it’s a cracking murder mystery that reminds viewers the first Australian multicultural moment happened in the mid-19th century – not the 20th."
Graeme Blundell, THE AUSTRALIAN: "A finely cinematically realised, intriguing murder mystery within the context of a revisionist Western."
Glenn Dunks, FLICKS: "New Gold Mountain unfolds delicately and with smart economy. While viewers may be more familiar with the eight-to-ten-episode arcs popularised on streaming services, SBS's slimmer four-episode miniseries standard is refreshing and fast-paced."
Matt Neal, ABC RADIO (Australia): "In the end, the mystery at its heart is less interesting than the immersive world and the complex characters populating it."